About 2 years ago, when we were in the middle of paper chasing to bring Levi home, God started speaking to me about adopting a 13-year-old girl from China. I shared my feelings with Lance, my mom and a couple online friends. Even though He had laid it very heavy on my heart, I knew it was something that was not going to happen anytime soon. We hadn’t even brought Levi home yet after all. I did become drawn to these aging out kids on many different agency lists, advocacy websites and yahoo groups…and sadly I had seen a lot of them go from an “Urgent” to “Aged Out” statusL You see, in China, once a child turns 14-years old they are no longer able to be adopted. There chance for having a family is forever gone. I can’t even imagine living with that “orphan” status for your entire life. We all need someone to love us unconditionally. We brought Levi home and even though Lance and I BOTH felt like “We are DONE!” at times…the Holy Spirit would often whisper to me about my 13-year old daughter. I had many conversations with God explaining that “YES, I hear you BUT you need to start speaking to my husband”. I can’t do this alone. Levi’s one-year anniversary came and went…the Holy Spirit started to tell me “it is almost time”. In January Lance took a mission trip the Dominican Republic. He returned on January 27th forever changed by this experience and a special 14-year old boy he met there named Roger. It would be impossible to bring this teenage boy home but there were others that we could make a difference in their lives. The Holy Spirit was working in him and Lance opened the door with…”I am thinking maybe we should adopt again.” The minute he spoke those words a certain little girl popped into my mind. Keep in mind, I had seen pictures of hundreds of teenage children waiting for their families to quickly find them…so why this child? Only God knows…He chose her to be our daughter and for me to be her mom. I showed Lance her picture and we started to pray. I knew the answer very quickly…it was honestly like the Holy Spirit was screaming at me. He told me her name and that the girls should come to China with us to get her. I was an indescribable feeling…I was SO sure. I think the fact that I was in the middle of the Daniel Fast had something to do with hearing Him so clearly. It was honestly AMAZING!!! Now…I just needed Him to make Lance sure. I needed Lance to also be 100% in on this decision. The 2nd week in February Lance had a business trip to San Francisco, California. Before catching his flight home on his last day there, he decided to take a walk through Chinatown and spend some time in prayer. He said he walked, prayed and cried…not knowing exactly why. He emailed me pictures from his phone and I longed to be there with him but I knew God was…the Holy Spirit was at work in him. He returned home and on Valentine’s Day Lance sent me this text…” Let’s do it! She needs a home and we have the means. God commands it! Love ya!” I don’t know about you but I think that was the most romantic Valentine’s Day gift I could have ever received. I love Lance for so many reasons but mostly for loving our God as much as I do and for obeying Him even when it is not the easy thing to do. WOW…I am blessed!!! I emailed the adoption agency from my phone, while on the treadmill at the YMCA, which was were I was when I received his the text…LOL! We started the initial paperwork to get pre-approval the next day. Our paperwork was translated and sent to China from our agency on February 23rd and we heard back from China on February 29th…just 6 days laterJ They agreed to let us adopt Bai Jia Jing ( aka Lia Jing Perry). The road to bring our adopted children home is never an easy one but one SO worth it in the end. We know that this is God’s will and our calling, our mission. Thank you Lord!!!
Lisa,
ReplyDeleteI love this story!